I know, I know. Soup. Courting controversy with that one! I mean, sheesh. If there’s one piece of advice absolutely critical to creative creators of all stripes it’s: Don’t talk about soup on the Internet, but I’m a rebel, an iconoclast, I cannot be pinned down by your digital norms.

Didn’t Amanda Palmer just do a TED Talk about this?

Something about… about soup?

Whatever.

I want to know what your favorite soup is.

Then, second question: I demand some soup recipes.

In the last few weeks I’ve made two damn fine soups — a sausage kale soup and a vegetable soup — and I’m kind of on a soup kick, as it were. So: help me out, won’t you?

Spit in the face of controversy and speak to me of soup.

Favorite soup.

Recipes of soup.

SOUP SOUP SOUP

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Pappa col pomodoro! (Tuscan tomato and bread soup, as per a previous email)

I looked up an English-written one (http://www.food.com/recipe/pappa-al-pomodoro-italian-bread-and-tomato-soup-110910) since I was not sure about the measurements and some ingredient or procedure names, I edited it to match my grandmother’s recipe. Silly imperial units…
Since it’s a very old recipe every family and village has its own variations, there’s no absolute right way to do it and quantities may be varied according to taste (for instance, I like mine with a LOT of onions), but this is the basics.

Directions
Put the bread pieces in a container with the broth and let it soak for about an hour.

Sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil (with the chili pepper if you like it) until the garlic has lightly browned and the onion is just getting golden/translucent; add the tomato; if you’re using fresh tomatoes, just dice them and toss ’em in.
Season with salt and rosemary; add half the basil leaves torn into tiny pieces; crush the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon (if using whole canned ones) and stir; cook until the tomatoes fall apart (about 20 minutes, maybe a few minutes more if you’re using fresh ones).

Put the bread into the sauce and stir it well (smush that son of a bread loaf until it begs for mercy!); the bread will soak up the sauce and it will get quite thick; add enough stock to soften the bread and to make it liquidy; let it simmer for another 20 minutes to make the bread absorb the taste.

Serve, sprinkling with the rest of the basil (whole or shredded, I prefer the latter. My grandma used to say to never shred basil with utensils but only with your hands, to retain all the flavour), parmesan cheese if you like it, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over each serving.
It can be consumed hot, warm or even cold.

Boil the taters and carrots till they are done and then drain.
Melt butter and cook the darned onions till they are nice and soft…then throw the seasoning, clams with juice, taters, carrots, and the heavy cream. Once you have mixed it together then thin with the milk as you slowly bring it to a simmer. Once everything has congealed nicely and you can attract local neighborhood cats (which this damned soup has done) or after about 40 minutes at a slow simmer with a good deal of stirring as you don’t want the taters to burn….you can eat with your bread, ham, and lots more butter…..easy and great for any time of year……oh lord….i have to make this for dinner now…..I blame you…I really, really do.